A Humble State of Mind

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (2:5). What kind of mind did Jesus have? In a word: humble. Jesus thinks of Himself with humility. He is God, yet He left heaven’s glory where He is worshipped to come to a world that dismissed Him, locked Him out. It’s beyond human comprehension to understand what our Lord did for us. And He did it with delight, no reluctance. He held nothing back but willingly sacrificed Himself for us.

On our own we can try, but never live with such humility. Left to ourselves, we demand our rights, we insist on our needs being met, and we easily overlook those around us who need God’s grace. We need the Holy Spirit to form humility in us. Jesus showed us what it looks like to empty our lives of all self-serving bents and habits in order to serve other people.

Jesus lived a selfless, obedient life in order to secure our spiritual destiny. Instead of demanding others serve Him, He served others. He gave up His right to be worshipped, to be served. Instead, He acted like a servant, took the lowest position, and ultimately obeyed His Father to the point of dying a cruel death on the cross. He did all of this so we could be forgiven of sin (2:5-8).

But God wasn’t finished with Jesus yet.

God took Him to the lowest place, but now He put Him in the highest place, and gave Him the most exalted name in the created universe—the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord (2:9-11).

God the Father’s ultimate purpose is to make sure Jesus Christ will be glorified in the universe He created and be glorified on the earth where all His creation lives and, ironically, on the planet where mankind rebelled against Him.

God now exalts Jesus and gives Him the highest name of all. His name is to be reverenced in praise and in worship. We also offer our deepest longings in prayer in His name. God will make sure every creature in heaven and on earth will bow in worship before Jesus Christ. On that day, we will join with everything that has breath in calling out praise that Jesus—who once was a bondservant—now is Lord and master of all. All creation will bow in full surrender and submission to Jesus Christ.

This scene prompts each of us to make certain Jesus Christ is Lord of our whole lives. It’s easy to call Him “Lord,” but it takes a deep commitment to surrender every area of our lives to make Him Lord. In the end, it’s not enough to merely give lip service to Jesus, but we make Him Lord when we surrender control to Him and allow Him to lead (Matthew 7:21-23).

Talk with Jesus about this new picture of His proper place. Ask Him to show you any areas of your life that still await His rule and lead—those places you’ve insisted on clinging to and try to control. Let Him have all of you; surrender to Him your will and life. He is your exalted Savior. It’s time to make Him your exalted Lord.

1. The world around us may not value humility. Do you find it difficult to practice humility when it is so neglected by others?

2. What does it tell us about Jesus that He surrendered His life willingly for our sins?

3. We don’t have to wait until the day that every person on earth will praise Jesus, we can do it now. What do you personally have to praise Jesus for?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teachings on Philippians 2:5-8 and Philippians 2:8-11.